IRAN, IRAQ TO OPEN NEW ROUND OF TALKS

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati was the first arrival Wednesday for a new round of negotiations in stalled peace talks with Iraq.

The latest round of U.N.-mediated talks - the fourth since Aug. 25 following a cease-fire five days earlier - was scheduled to open Thursday afternoon.U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has acted as intermediary between Velayati and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.

"Wait and see," was all Velayati would say when asked by reporters at Geneva airport if he expected progress at the new session on breaking the deadlock.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 598 of 1987 laid down an agenda for the talks, starting with withdrawal of forces to "internationally recognized borders" and then the exchange of all prisoners of war.

Drafting of an actual peace settlement is to begin after those two initial crucial steps are completed.